The show, entitled "The Monarchic Saga of Hue", will take place inthe former Imperial Palace on April 28 and 30.
The Monarchic Saga of Hue or Van hien Kinh ky is a unique art performance thatcomprises different genres of royal music, dance and poem singing as well asthe modern staging techniques of LED backdrop, light effects and fireworks.
According to Huynh Tien Dat, deputy director of the Hue Festival Centre, theevent’s organiser, the show will be a key part of this edition of the HueFestival.
The Hue Festival is a biennial cultural event taking the first time in 2000. Itgathers art troupes nationwide and from other countries in the former imperialcapital city. This year’s event is the 10th version of the event.
This year’s event, which starts in April 28 and ends on May 2, aims tohighlight the province’s cultural heritage items awarded by UNESCO, includingthe Complex of Hue Monuments, Hue royal court music, printing woodblocks, theroyal records of the Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945) and royal literature on Hueroyal architecture.
“The show depicts the history and achievements of the Nguyen Dynasty in its143-year history,” said Phan Thanh Hai, director of the Hue MonumentsConservation Centre. The centre is a local government body managing all relicsrelated to the dynasty in Hue and is the biggest local partner of Hue FestivalCentre in creating the event.
Hai, also a co-author of the show, said: “It was built in the structure of aplay, telling a historical story of Vietnam in the 19th century through theroyal art form as well as other traditional genres of Hue.”
The development of the monarchy in Hue and the reclamation of the country’ssovereignty, with a deep focus on sovereignty over Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago,would be conveyed in the show, he said.
The show’s first chapter will include scenes depicting the Vietnam’ssovereignty over Hoang Sa. The dynasty’s first king, Gia Long, formed marinetroops and appointed them to investigate and measure the archipelagoes duringhis reign.
Royal records related to this have been contributed to sources that proveVietnam’s definite sovereignty over the archipelagos.
In the first chapter, audiences will enjoy the processes when King Gia Longbuilt the kingdom and efforts to expand the country to the south.
It will also detail the period that the king named the country Vietnam in 1804.
Audiences will continue to be entertained with light, music, and royal dance inthe second chapter. The stories go on with an era of secure defence, peace andbumper crops under the reign of the dynasty’s second king, Minh Mang.
Many achievements in the heyday of the Nguyen Dynasty will be included in this.
The last chapter depicts themes that highlight the advanced education andflowering art thanks to peaceful and wealthy life created by the dynasty. Thiswill also give audiences a background on the intangible values left by thedynasty in Hue.
The 80-minute show is expected to tell a full story of imperial Hue in a mostentertaining way and show the dynasty’s role in protecting Vietnam’ssovereignty over seas and islands as well as the growing of Vietnameseterritories to the south.-VNA